Lockheed Looks Abroad To Sell LCS, MH-60, Radars -- But Who's Buying?

http://defense.aol.com/2012/10/19/lockheed-looks-abroad-to-sell-lcs-mh-60-radars-but-whos-bu/




Lockheed Looks Abroad To Sell LCS, MH-60, Radars -- But Who's Buying?
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Published: October 19, 2012

It's true that Foreign Military Sales hit a record $65 billion for fiscal 2012, driven largely by Asia and the Middle East, and it's those two regions Lockheed is targeting. Global sales help not only the company but the United States as well, claimed Michele Evans MS2's business development chief, because they equip friends and allies with compatible equipment, keep the industrial base open, and keep production volumes up so all customers, US and foreign alike, can reap economies of scale.

But scale is what's lacking in most foreign sales, compared to Pentagon purchases. The biggest foreign deal that MS2 could tout today was last year's $3 billion sale of 24 MH-60R helicopters to Australia, America's best friend in the Pacific. (Sikorsky builds the actual helicopter, but Lockheed integrates the high-value-added avionics). The MH-60 is also competing for sales to Denmark and South Korea, with a decision expected by the end of the year, but even if the Lockheed-Sikorsky team wins both contracts, the two together will total less than 20 helicopters. Lockheed said other countries have also expressed interest in the aircraft, including Brazil and undisclosed states in Africa, but there's nothing solid yet. So the best case in the near-term is less than 44 MH-60s sold abroad. Compare that to the U.S. Navy's multi-year contracts to buy 300.

Lockheed also touted international interest in a derivative of the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship, which they're calling the "Multi-Mission Combatant." Why the rename? The US Navy is buying the LCS for specialized supporting roles, with plug-and-play "mission modules" to kit it out variously for minesweeping, sub-hunting, or fighting small boats, depending on current needs. Foreign customers with much more modest fleets are looking at the LCS as a jack of all trades, so they want it to be able to switch from one role to the next without heading back to port to change out modules.

~snip~

Cosgrove touted the Multi-Mission Combatant's suitability for the shallows and narrows of the Gulf and Southeast Asia. But he declined to name any specific potential customers, saying only that "we're having a busy time [with] a steady trickle of requests for briefs." But this is hardly the first time that Lockheed or General Dynamics, which builds a different version of the LCS, have suggested the LCS for sales abroad, only to be stymied by the ship's high cost compared to traditional corvettes and fast attack craft available on the global market.



unhappycamper comment: "$3 billion sale of 24 MH-60R helicopters" = one shitload of profit for Sikorsky and Lockheed.

You can rename the $500 million dollar LCS, but it still costs $500 million dollars. I wonder if anyone will notice?